Mechanical failure at Midland's groundwater source causes water pressure drop

The city of Midland is experiencing low water pressure because of a mechanical failure at its groundwater source, reducing flow from 10-12 million gallons to nearly 2 million gallons per day.  

Carl Craigo, the city’s director of utilities, said during a press conference that normal operations are expected to resume by Sunday; however, the city is asking all residents to shut off their outdoor irrigation systems and to conserve water. 

“Our water plant on Midland Drive, we were getting that plant going and so we have lower flow coming out of the plant,” Craigo said. “About a third of the water that’s in the city is coming from the plant right now, and the rest of the water, or two-thirds of the water, is coming from a groundwater source, our T-Bar source.” 

Craigo said that a large mechanical failure in a valve at the groundwater source stopped flow coming from the T-Bar groundwater system.

“So that was about 10 million to 12 million gallons that was coming, and it cut down to almost 2 million gallons, which wasn’t enough water and is not enough water to fill up the city systems,” he said. 

Craigo said that while the city of Midland typically consumes about 16 million gallons of water per day, only about 8 million gallons a day were being used the past two days. 

“So, slowly, all of our water tanks have been coming down, but in the evening, it slowly comes up,” Craigo said. “Last night, we had a second valve that failed. That was repaired last night, but it stopped any extra flow at night. So this morning, we were down at minimum pressure.” 

So far, residents citywide mighty have noticed low water pressure, and some of the city’s public facilities have no running water. 

“Today’s (commercial) toilets need a higher pressure to flush,” Craigo said. “The ones at your house have a tank, but a commercial one, or those tankless ones, they need a higher pressure to operate. So they will have some problems until the pressure moves up a little bit.” 

As far as water usage, Craigo said that 50% to 55% of the water used in Midland goes toward irrigation systems. 

“If people would not irrigate or water their yards this weekend, then that would be very helpful for the entire city,” Craigo emphasized. 

Meanwhile, the city of Midland, the Parks and Recreation Department and Midland College have turned off their irrigation systems. 

“If homeowners could do the same thing through the weekend, just turn off the irrigation system then hopefully Monday, we should be good to go from there,” Craigo said. 

While the city expects water pressure to resume to normal by Monday, Craigo says residents might see pressure fluctuations.

“You will see it coming back up and think that something happened, and then it went back down,” Craigo said. “It’s just because people use a lot of water at that time, and then at night, it will start raising all the (water) towers.” 

Craigo said the last time that the city of Midland experienced a similar water event was when Winter Storm Uri hit Texas in February 2021. Currently, the city maintains nine water tanks.

“We are increasing flow to each tower, (in order) to section the city and to make sure we keep above that flow above 20 psi, but it is showing lower pressure throughout the city,” Craigo said. “When people are at home, they’re not seeing what they’re used to seeing.” 

Earlier in the day, the city sent out an emergency alert for residents advising that water tanks were in the process of filling up but that the process is ongoing. 

“Still the city is calling on residents to use less water, so the City can refill the system as quickly as possible. The call for water conservation includes avoiding outdoor watering and the filling of pools,” the alert said. 

Once the water flow resumes, the current irrigation system and schedule will be back in use. The current outdoor watering schedule allows residents and businesses in the city of Midland to water four times per week.

Even-numbered addresses can water outdoors on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Odd-numbered addresses can water outdoors on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Any violation may result in a fine of up to $500.

Midland is currently under Stage 2 (moderate) water shortage conditions.